This is a fun book that tells the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West. But not as fun as it should be, honestly. Very creative about the politics & interactions of Oz leading up to Dorothy’s arrival, but ultimately not all that gripping. I think I’ll try to read another of Maguire’s books — probably Mirror Mirror — and see how that one is. I’m betting the musical is a lot more fun & interesting.
I thought this was horribly over-rated… likely because people liked the musical. As a book, I couldn’t get over how inconsistent the book was with the original Baum structure of Oz (he did, after all, write 14 books in the series). Maguire could have easily achieved hist goals for the novel within the framework of the charaters and characteristics of Oz. The book also seemed to fizzle dramatically in the last third, as if he didn’t really know how to make it all matter.
I thought this was horribly over-rated… likely because people liked the musical. As a book, I couldn’t get over how inconsistent the book was with the original Baum structure of Oz (he did, after all, write 14 books in the series). Maguire could have easily achieved hist goals for the novel within the framework of the charaters and characteristics of Oz. The book also seemed to fizzle dramatically in the last third, as if he didn’t really know how to make it all matter.